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Bellator MMA’s new relationship with Showtime continues with another Friday night that’s alright for fighting. Just as we did last week, we’re headlining with a rematch, although this one is almost nine years in the making. At UFC on FOX 4 in Los Angeles, Calif., Lyoto Machida knocked out Ryan Bader in the second round at a point in his career where Bader says he, “knew nothing about striking.” Now, he’s eager to find out how much he’s improved over the last decade by running this fight back a second time.
At age 37, there’s no doubt that Bader has developed from a collegiate wrestling stud to a full-fledged striker, grappler and submission arts practitioner in the intervening years. Even so, “Darth” can’t allow himself to take “The Dragon” lightly. It’s true that Machida lost each of his last two fights, but if you’re losing to both Phil Davis and Gegard Mousasi by split decision, those losses are at least partial victories. In neither case did Mach
Cat Zingano s focus is on a title fight against Cris Cyborg; first, she needs to win on Friday
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Cat Zingano s focus is on a title fight against Cris Cyborg; first, she needs to win on Friday
Cat Zingano has her eyes on bigger and better things after her fight against Olivia Parker on Friday.
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Cat Zingano thought it was interesting, if unsurprising, when she found out last month that Miesha Tate would be returning to fighting in the UFC. Zingano beat Tate by third-round TKO in 2013, one of the first fights that shaped the women s bantamweight division.
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Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate are key pieces to the start of the UFC’s introduction to the women. Nearly a decade later and they’re both still competing – just under different roofs.
While Zingano prepares to compete this Friday night, Tate is set to return to the UFC in July after a five-year retirement. In that time, Tate took up a position as a ONE Championship Vice President and according to Zingano, a potential grappler.
“I get it, MMA is a love-hate sport,” Cat Zingano told ESPN regarding Tate coming out of retirement. “Some days you just don’t want to do this but you get away from it for 10 minutes and you miss it. It’s very deep in your soul to want to be an MMA fighter. So for her to want to come back, I think it makes sense, I’m not surprised.
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Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg says she’s willing to fight Cat Zingano if Scott Coker asks her.
After she scored back-to-back dominant victories over Julia Budd and Arlene Blencowe in her first two Bellator fights, it’s becoming hard to find challengers for Cyborg. But one name floating around is Zingano. Both Cyborg and Zingano were big stars in the UFC at one point in time, and now both of them are on the Bellator roster at 145lbs. It seems natural to think this fight could happen in the Bellator cage, and it’s possible we might actually see it in 2021.